£103m Newcastle United duo 'hung out to dry' as concern raised ahead of Man City clash

NewcastleWorld and Shields Gazette editor Liam Kennedy and Newcastle United writers Dominic Scurr and Jordan Cronin provide regular news, analysis and reaction to all things happening at St James’ Park.

And in this week’s edition, the lads look ahead to the visit of Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday, where Eddie Howe’s 4-3-3 formation is a major talking point on the back of the defeat to Fulham and other unconvincing performances.

Watch Geordie Journos on ShotsTV! All eyes on Man City & Eddie Howe’s tactics 

“I see a lot of talk about Bruno Guimaraes the new captain and whether he’s a problem for Newcastle,” Liam said. “Has he become a problem in this team? I would argue, the problem is around him.

“I watched Ilkay Gundogan for Manchester City [v Arsenal] very closely, and I thought if you trade Bruno Guimaraes into that team, he never gets never gets caught having to run back 40 yards because there’s a huge gap behind him which shows a major flaw [of his game].

“I bet you if Gundogan had to do that four and five times a week, he would look awful. This isn't a Bruno Guimaraes problem, it’s a system problem. Bruno Guimaraes has been hung out to dry by the system.

“Alexander Isak has been hung out to dry by the system. Alexander Isak is probably one of the top three strikers on the planet, how many chances has he had created for him from this team in six games? That is a failing of a manager unable to get the best out of his squad.

“People keep focusing on individuals, and I've seen a lot of focus on the analysis of individuals. Alexander Isak is not a bad player because he's not scoring goals - it's because he's in a bad system that isn't working and isn’t functioning.

“Bruno Guimaraes isn't a bad player that isn't isn't top class and walks into every Premier League side, because he does, he's actually just in a bad system that really shows his flaws, not his strengths.”

Watch Geordie Journos every Monday at 10:30pm on Freeview channel 262 & Freely channel 565, or on ShotsTV.com by clicking here.

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